Stone Ripper Pale Ale: Canned dank headed your way

StoneRipper Pale Ale is the newest canned offering by the Escondido, California based brewery.

While the United States has created some of the boldest hops in the brewing world. Example: Cascade hops. Austraila has put themselves on the hoppy world map with hops like Galaxy (first bred in 1994). Stone Ripper Pale Ale combines the Pacific Northwest with Aussie born hops in this new release.

It’s not often that Stone debuts a beer and does not immediately take it national. In this instance, Ripper is available in only California until January, then hits national distribution after the first of the year.

When it came to devising the concept of our next pale ale, we drew inspiration from the coastal locale of SoCal and the land down under. Sourcing classic Cascade hops from the Pacific Northwest and Australian Galaxy hops from… yes…Australia, we made a beer both lovers of resinous green buds and rip-curling surfers will find downright rad. At the same time, we stayed true to our San Diego love of pushing the hop boundaries of this style. While some might think it lingers on an edge far closer to IPA, with all the dry-hop flavor and aroma, it’s actually right in line with the current-day interpretation of a West Coast pale. Ours just so happens to have an Aussie accent that yields a juicy amount of grapefruit and passion fruit. So veg out or venture out. Either way, rip one open and taste for yourself this awesome golden amber nectar!

The brewery describes this beer as “Tropical and dank, flavors of orange and bright resiny hops”. Now that we’ve tried it, dank is a great description. The beer is very bright, very citrusy, clean, and well, dank. For those missing Levitation Ale, you’ll find a new home with Ripper. The alcohol by volume is higher, but once you taste it, you’ll see why. 2017 is looking great. (and hoppy.)

Stone Ripper Pale Ale is a 12 ounce can and draft release. Look for it near you after the first of the year.